5.5 mm aneurysm on ICA what to do?

I found out incidentally a couple of weeks ago that I have a 5.5 mm aneurysm on my internal carotid artery. After working through the initial shock and anxiety I am now trying to decide what to do about it. I had a consult with a neurosurgeon who I liked very much. He basically said he is on the fence on whether he would recommend treatment (most likely via coiling) or if we should watch it, and ultimately it is up to me and what I am comfortable with.

Anyway, I have done a ton of research online and I am having a tough time deciding what to do. It is hard to imagine living with this hanging over my head for who knows how long (I'm 41) but it is also hard to think about submitting myself to surgery with some risk of a bad outcome.

Anyone been through this before? Any words of wisdom? I have spent a lot of time in prayer over this and would love some clarity.

sorry about the annie you had found. been there done that, but mine was in my brain and was coilable thank god. have you even seen an "interventional neuroradiologist" for an angiogram done yet(this just would be what your now 'on the fence' NS should be doing)? this realistically gives the very BEST possible, and sort of '3D way of really seeing it and from ALL angles, which would then show what your true options just are as well.

do you know if your annie actually has a 'good neck' on it? by that i mean, does this kind of 'balloon out' kind of like what an actual balloon looks like with that neck and THEN the annie/bulge at the end(skinny at beginning where it comes off the artery THEN the bulge moreso, or what is called a 'sacular/bulge' type of annie), or is it a bit more 'open TO/IN that artery(tends to be called a 'berry" annie. much larger/wider opening TO the artery with almost NO neck on it)? it DOES make a big difference in even what CAN be done by the way the annies shape/configuration actually is.

our carotids feed the front part of the brain while the vertebrals feed the hindbrain/back of with arterial blood supply. but luckily we do have two of each so your brain, is still getting bloodflow, even if that particular annie is even somehow 'blocking",even a little bit, that artery to ANY degree(usually they do NOT block arteries, since they are usually off to one side/bulge in arterial wall? but then again, every individual annie just IS highly individual in how it just 'is' within any given artery/person too).

what were the symptoms you were having that led to what i am assuming was an MRI or one with a contrasting agent used to best define structures within that c spine and esp the vascular? i am just assuming here that 'something' led to you even GETTING that MRI in the first place? many many actual annies are indeed found as 'incidental findings' since many ARE simply rather 'silent', at least before they get much larger and really just start 'impacting something' that leads to the MRI in the very first place.

but seriously, if you have not yet even seen a good interventional neuroradiologist to get that very needed angiogram/opinion done on your annie, that realistically IS usually the very next step here. mostly since they just CAN see this much more clearly using angiogram and it WOULD be that I neurorad who would actually even DO any coiling if this is what gets decided. a neurosurgeon can only do the more invasive clipping(they go into what would be your neck area, visualize that annie, then only IF more 'sacular/balloon" type, can slide an actual clip right over the neck of this sucker to stop any bloodflow from feeding this and making it larger and more dangerous for rupture. and that annie eventually dies off from lack of any bloodflow TO it), and the interventional neuro rad can only do that coiling(they simply go into your femoral artery in the crease of your groin area, then 'snake' the platnum coils on up to 'fill in' that annie only. this IS what i had done but inside my brain and very highly successful too). and esp when you have ANY NS who is "undecided' as to what to do, that angio and the I neurorad really ARE the best overall referral for you in this part of the process, if only to obtain that needed 3D look and HIS or HER actual opinion on this. is it or is it not actually coilable?

what does your MRI state regarding the 'appearance' of your annie(does this just HAVE that good neck on it? it would usually state 'a sacular shaped or formed" annie), and word for word as the interpretting radiologist wrote it initially? that word for word and from that very last page of your report in what is called either the 'summary or conclusion' really IS needed for me to see since specific words or phrases can really tell alot 'about' any given specific finding, much more than you or anyone simply stating the highlights to someone would. and would really help ME to better understand what/how this was 'seen' by that rad who wrote that report. if you do NOT have your own copy of that report yet, DO obtain one, either from your doc who ordered the test OR usually a quicker approach(unless you have a very soon appt with that doc) would be to simply show up at the actual facility where the MRI was done and obtain one there. they can print it off as soon as you simply fill out that needed "release of information" form. i have gone that route MANY times now with my 22 MRIs among other types of scans i have had to have all since 2001 for various crappy stuff that decided to show up in this poor old body(am only 51 and feel like i am 80 now, seriously. but my annie was actually 'found' in 2005, and coiled a few months later, and has given me NO problems at all since coiling)

but you just really DO NEED that referral to a good interventional neuroradiologist to obtain that needed angiogram, that with either way/procedure that gets decided on, would STILL be something that would need to still be done before anything can truely be determined as YOUR particular 'plan of action". just ask your still 'undecided' doc for that particular referral. he should already have sent you for this if he has not done so already. it just IS a very very needed type of 'test/scan' that would show your NS and the INR the best possible approach to use for YOUR particular annie. i am hoping that you DO have at least some good neck area on this for the best possible results.

The Doc I have been seeing is a neurorad. I haven't actually seen the MRA results but I haven't asked either so I should probably do that.

He seemed to indicate it would be a good candidate for coiling but he did say an angiogram would give him the best idea of how to treat it (coils, PED, some combo). He said clipping was a possibility but based on the location it would be a little more difficult than normal. He has also said that they can do the angiogram, then go over the treatment options with my wife and proceed to treat it the same day if we would like. That sounds pretty good to me at this point because I really don't want to have two separate procedures.

wow, same day service. what i don't understand, if your doc IS an interventional neurorad, just why it has taken him so long just to even do that very much needed angio? it is, for any INR, kind of the 'thing' that they do,ya know what i mean? just seems kind of odd,thats all. but maybe that is the way this particular INR just does things?

as far as the coiling goes? i really feel that this worked soo well for me and my annie(mine was too deep and close to the brainstem to even consider actual clipping, thank god. i did NOT want to even consider a full on crainiotomy and all THAT entails). i do think/agree with your INR if you had any type of clipping done in THAT particular area, you could have some possible movement/issues to deal with since this simply is NOT at all really 'IN" the brain but in a neck artery. coiling really does work well for what are called 'sacular' annies. and you DO need to get your hands on that report to find out more exactly just how the interpretting rad described this too. and of course i would be VERY highly interested in THAT overall description, lol. i am like that.

but having that angiogram is like the 'golden' scan type to fully see any annie the way any good INR absolutely has to. ujust remember here JBS. just because your INR says he CAN do that angio and the coiling on the very same day, does NOT mean you have to if you have other questions or you just feel somewhat overwhelmed at THAT particular time and feel you simply NEED some time yto think about it. in otherwords, it is NOT a 'have to' just because your INR wants to or suggested to do it all in the very same day,K? this usually requires the coiling to be done, then you are placed into the ICU for at least the rest of THAT day, and if everything goes well or as 'expected' , you are actually (in most cases)released to go home the very next day. that freaked me out really since it just IS what it is,ya know?

but then you come back for like a follow up angio in like a year or so, unless something else just 'prompts" sooner, and they check and see if that area of the annie is completely filled in with what are blood clots, and it is indeed taken fully out of the circulation. then it would be considered fully successful. the "idea' of placing the coils is it kind of builds a "scaffolding' or structure within that annie that clots will naturally develop ON(only becasue it is metal/foriegn to). that is what fills in the rest of your annie spaces along with the coils placed. so you DO have to go onto something like plavix along with baby ASA (pre angio in your case just incase they DO the actual coiling. they need to have your blood thinnned as much as possible so clots do NOT accumulate BEFORE the coils get placed into your annie)and then have to stay on that baby ASA for the rest of your life. luckily for me they actually make the enteric coated since i have never ever been able to take/tolerate the effects of ASA on my stomach at all since i was a child. ASA just burns my stomach otherwise, but have been on that enteric baby ASA now since 05 and have never ever had any problems with it so far. you CAN usually drop the plavix after a certain period of time post coiling.

i am thinking if your INR feels it IS coilable at all it would almost have to have a good neck on it, which is what keeps those platnum coils actually even 'in' that annie itself, so THAT alone is a very good thing. but if you can track down a copy of the MRI, it really would be helpful to me to help you in the more infomed ways? and DO, esp if you decide to wait on that coiling, obtain a copy of that angio/coiling or just angio too. you CAN actually onbtain a full record of the actual op notes of the procedure if coiling gets done, and also that angiogram and everything from your hosp stay too. i would very highly advise you to just contact the hosp after this is all done and get every report/record in your "central medical file" just for YOUR sake and for your own medical files you can keep at home too. this IS a big part of your ongoing medical history, so it is always a good thing to obtain all records for yourself. i have ALL records and any testing results from like all my six surgeries and all my scan reports, of which there are just wayy too many, and any lab tests that i do have to esp have once a year to check on my kidney and liver since they got slammed with what is called polycystic kidney disease. this is also what made me much more susceptable to even HAVING the development of potential annies too.

some people can get an annie from high BPs or just can also be born with a much weaker particular area in any artery(or developed over time). or like me and anyone with this same kidney disease, can get these to occur because we are born without some form of elastin that simply strengthens arterial walls much better? yippie.

just remember, if you should feel at ALL that you and your family simply need more time to really think about things on the day of your angio(just know that YOU most certainly will be a bit drugged up on a combo of fent and versed that they always use for any angio done too), nothing is written in stone,K? or you can go full speed ahaead if you feel thats the best for you and get it all done in that one day too. you just DO hold the cards here with ANY medical decision JBS. please let me know what you find out or popped up that MRI if you decide to obtain a copy. it really IS very simple to do, esp from that facility where you had it done at. i really would like to know just how the rad described your annie. you WANT to see 'sacular'. which i am just thinking it would be considering. i wish you luck with all of this and the decision too. please keerp me posted JB, marcia

honestly SB, the mere fact that an INR told you that doing the surgical route would 'may be' be a bit more difficult usually means that there just could be some types of 'other structures' just could be in the way of even getting to that annie, or it may be that the area of the 'neck' that the clip has to slide over may not simply be AS accessable as he would like. it could be many things tho that i WOULD ask about before consenting to the clip procedure. you just DO NEED to be a fully informed patient before making ANY real hard fast choices/decisions on something esp involving the brain.my particular annie was actually like 3 point something? sorry i cannot recall the exact size off hand SB. thats right you stated INTERNAL, sorry i was thinking further down. the bigger problem with 'my' overall situation was that my annie had decided to form right smack into the bend of an artery(was in the superior cerebellar artery) and the consult/eval i had set with who had been doing my angios ever since i found out i was also born with what is called a cavernous hemangioma right INSIDE of my spinal cord and i needed to find out if this lil glob from hell was either arterially fed or venous fed(this was eventually resected only because it had already bled once and IN my cord(not good) and now i have a ton of cord damage) was called out that day of my appt. so i ended up seeing his much less experienced collegue. THAT INR told me that i could not have this coiled only BECAUSE it was in that bend, and the possibility of the coils herniating back out was pretty high. this was despite having a good sized neck on it(but i had NOT yet had an angio done on it at that point either). but when MY actual INR did my angio, and i was waiting and waiting for something to come out of his mouth while lying on that table, all of the sudden he just says,'aw hell, i can coil THAT". that WAS a huge relief for me that it even could be treated at all since it was impossible to even 'try' the clip approach with this kind of being right at my brainstem, kind of in the front of too. but my wonmderful and very experienced INR did it, and everything went better than i ever thought it could go, and as i said, i was discharged the very next day too. so for me, even with what i had been told by someone with less overall experience combined with this even being in that artery bend, everything went without a hitch.

when you say that you arew thinking of 'surgery', just exactly what do you mean, like a crainiotomy then clipping or the coiling? quite honestly SB, that coiling is soo less invasive with everything kind of done all within the arteries and no actual cutting into anything at all except that groin area where they simply 'snake" all the needed tools and coils thru to the brain area(it truely IS amazing in what these interventional neurorads can even just 'do', and all within just the blood vessels.)? the recovery is much quicker from a coiling than actual surgical entry with a clip that gets kind of 'slid' over that neck of the annie would be. when the 'surgical clipping" was simply taken off the table for me(it was considered tobe inoperable becasue of brain location), while everything was kinda scarey that simply does involve arteries, i WAS very relieved to not have to even make that type of decision. and as i stated above, i was in that one day/morning, spent one night in the ICU for closer observation and discharged the very day(around noon) right out of the ICU directly to home. going surgical will also involve a much longer stay and some added risks that you really do NOT have to deal with using the coil approach, and it IS highly effective at taking annies out of the circulation. with the coiling, it does take a bit longer for the annie to fill in with the needed clotting, as opposed to clipping which would take it right out of circulation. but would also as i said, carry it's own and very different forms of risk factors only becasue it IS an actual "surgical procedure" with cutting involved up there, and up towards your brain as well, ya know?

but either way, if it were me, i would NOT simply 'leave this' to stay where it is without 'some' type of actual intervetion SB. it's just when you have something like this within an artery, it can very easily 'react' to changes in your BP, or even suffering acute pain can bring up the BPs and create more enlargement too(seeing this upon angio will actuall show you just exactly where it is and if this even IS encroaching upon the more inner wall of that artery too, which can also be an issue esp if in a bend like mine was). its just the higher pressure that gets carried within arteries we have vs the much lower pressure vienous flow is. so that choice really IS more up to you and also dependant upon just how truely invasive the surgical clipping would be FOR YOU, and your overall recovery as well, vs that coiling.

but one huge thing that will really show kind of YOUR individual annies best bets here really IS getting that angiogram done. i really don't know if i would go for that angio/coil procedure, just doing that all in one day, vs waiting a bit til you can really research the procedures yourself more dependant upon the REAL underlying findings that may show things a bit differently upon angio vs any other type of scan you may have had including the MRA you had. it just really does give the docs a true more 3D picture of it in its entirety. an MRA is still kind of more a 2D scan/pic that you simply cannot really see all angles nearly as well as with that angiogram being done too.

you WILL find out much more clearly just what will be more than likely, the very BEST way for them to treat your annie once the angio results kind of give them a much more well defined picture. either way, there just are certain inherent risks. but some things that you would have to deal with going one way, you would not have to deal with going another route, and vice versa ya know? but the one thing i just really DO feel here is if the INR will be doing that angio on you and kind of wanting to do the coiling that very same day? if you really NEED to look more in depth at that surgical approach before deciding, you cannot have that coiling done until you at least speak with the NS who would be in charge of actually going that clipping route(unless for some reason, that NS just happens to also be there that day). but i just see what that NS told you about 'difficulty' and if you would NOT have that in the way going with coiling, it may just be the right choice for you as i really do feel it was for me.

this IS of course all my own opinion here SB. as i said, that angio really will show much much more than your MRA did. and if you may 'think' you actually want to go with that coiling, you still DO NOT 'have to' go with it THAT SAME DAY. you CAN schedule a possibly better time for YOU and how things need to be taken care of both at home, at work and any other stuff you feel you need to get done prior to undergoing that coiling. nothing is set in stone, despite that INR merely 'suggesting it'.. good luck SB and DO continue to keep me posted,marcia

When I said "surgery" I was really referring to coiling. I would really rather go that route if it is possible over a clipping.

My real dilemma is whether I should have anything done at all or just leave it alone and monitor it. The doc says there is up to 5% complication rate with coiling and studies show that there is 1% or less chance of rupture within a year if we just leave it alone.

I'm just not sure which risk I can best live with. I know it would be hard to have that 1% / yr hanging over my head for the rest of my life. I'm just praying about it and trying to educate myself the best that I can.

okay, i get it now,lol. ya know SB, you can always obtain a second opinion. honestly, the INR that did MY coiling, and i only found this out after my 'annie' angio was done(from his really super great nurse who goes wherever he does), was/is one of the tops in his field here in Mn where i live. and it DOES matter as to who has simply done the most and who is kind of the bigger/most experienced of any given group of 'interventional neurorads" in YOUR area too. like i mentioned above, i got one opinion from my actual INRs partner with much LESS overall experience and another from the man i really wanted to here HIS overall opinion on, ya know? and lo and behold, i DID get two really different opinions on my annie.

if there is actually any hosp around you that has a specialty in treating strokes or anything more 'vascular' which most hosps tend to kind of have their 'thing' like specializing in cardiac or other more specific specialties, that would be a really great place to go for a second opinion. i know as of two years ago, my own INR is now the head of the new vascular center at one of our hosps in st paul. they did not have this when i was at that same hosp in 05, but i DID have that wonderful INR as my coiling doc who still monitors me since i am still high risk for anything vascularly insane occuring becasue of my stupid kidney disease. but alot of hosps are specializing in specific things/treatments of now than ever before. you could try just looking in the yellow pages of your phone book for the biggest town where you live by and see if there just IS such a hosp near by somewhere too. just a thought for ya.

since i did not really have a choice since the deep surgical and clipping was pretty much off the table from the git go, i just did NOT want to have to worry about this lil sucker in my brain 'doing something' that after it does, the chances of getting anything 'done", and the huge risks involved post rupture, well this was what i felt for 'me' was the very best decision(all i wanted was to get this lil glob OUT of my overall brains circulation). the smaller they are when coiled, that much easier they are to treat, and the less they are usually stretched(as in the arterial walls within that annie) as well in most cases. i had already gone thru a very similar nightmare having that glob of blood vessels form inside of my spinal cord before i was even born(this was 4x6x8 mms and my actual cord amp was only 10mms. it had also bled once prior to it being found 'incidentally' upon MRI in 2001 for a herniated disc way up in my c spine cord level. not much room left for any more bleeds). that was more than enough to go thru worrying if this was going to have another bleed in there and paralyze me from it. so for me, just getting the coiling done at all was kind of like 'lets go and get thee the heck outta my brain(or the circulation), once i found out MY INR felt it was coilable'.

you really do have to look at the overall bigger picture here SB. i myself would not want to wait til this either just kept on growing or i had a sudden onset rupture(any high BPs or even too many times just having to 'overly strain' with a rather constipated BM can enlarge an annie, or that 'possible' is always there too). i personally know of three different friends who ended up with ruptured annies who had no clue they even had one til it did rupture on them(one passed away, the others suffered at lease 'some' brain disabiliteis). but i also know two, one my cousin, who went ahead with the coilings who DID thankfully find out before they could rupture and just had the coiling and are doing fine now. including myself makes three. i know this is not in any way the 'bigger cross section', this is only what i personally know of myself. while i HAVE heard of people i know having ruptures. i have never heard of any i know that had their coils either not fill in as supposed to, or real major complications FROM the coilings themselves either. but i am sure theri ARE some. there just "are" very basic complications with ANY type of 'procedure' that we just can have at all done to our bodies, and they by law also have to tell you that too.

but 5% really is not all that huge(now if he had stated anything like 20 to 50%, THAT most certainly would have been something to REALLY consider) when doing anything within our brains actually(or even just actual "surgical risks' overall), and depending upon "why" your INR told you what he did also does matter. as in was THAT difficulty included in his 5% or was this just overall 'surgical or procedure risks themselves. that DOES also matter as to 'what' he ment more specifically. . i would ask him in a very direct way just what is it that makes this particular annie 'more difficult',or how he did state this to you. you DO have the right to know EVERYTHING related to your medical situation no matter what it is. either there is something 'unique' with this particular annie or 'he himself, just is not as confident in his own abilities to even do this at all in the fisrt place, ya know what i mean? it would almost have to be one of those two things for him to even say that at all to you. this IS where second opinions with possibly another INR who just DOES have many more years of overall experience comes in(of course AFTER your angio is performed). and you DO have that right to the second opinion too. this is almost always covered by just about any ins company, esp for something inside our brains(i had three seperate non related opinions for my cord glob(cavernous hemangioma) and my ins co DID pay for all three). but you do need to find out FROM him just what 'he feels' that 'difficulty" just 'is'. i also would ask this particular INR just what the overall risks/complications are possible if the annie actually ruptures after doing nothing BUT monitoring it as well(has he mentioned those at all yet?). THAT particular info you also NEED to know as well before making ANY real decision on how to best deal with this SB, those risks are simply also 'there' too. you simply do NEED ALL info from every possible you may be considering. the if i 'do's" and if i do not's.

this is something that i am really wondering based upon what you were told and the %'s? looking at how he stated this 'at one year mark", what DOES that 1% pertain to realistically(when does THAT "one year" actually even 'begin"?), the day it gets 'found' or when it begins to form, or when it just reaches a particular size, ya know what i am trying to say here? he really is not comparing this realistically as to 'when' 'at that one year" as to when that YEAR actually begins, or starts either. or did he tell you that? and then what do you do at that (so called)one year mark, go thru all of this again(that annie will just still 'be there')? THAT is what would concern me as a patient with an annie this size. it also matters just how many 'layers' of the inner arterial walls are involved in this too. we DO thankfully have three kind of seperate inner walls inside of every artery, kind of for this type of 'possible'. you can have a bulge/annie in a wall that has maybe only gone into that first/closest inner wall, or it could be bulged out to the very last wall with all that arterial pressure being 'held in' by one thinner wall vs the three, or it could be the full three too. if i remember right, with the angiogram done, they can at least tell just what actual 'wall' this has bulged thru or into, but don't quote me on that one. but they can "usually" tell per angio, just by looking at how 'thinned' that annie wall within the artery is when compared to the rest of that artery size/thickness kind of thing. it is just another very major reason to have that angio done too. it is just harder using even MRA to really see more into that annie/artery. angios use alot more overall contrast that is injected(the tubing and needed contrast thats contained til needed) directly into/thru that femoral artery then 'snaked up"to the brain and THEN that contrast is shot from right before the brain, vs what they use for other scans that goes directly into an actual vien, and 'eventually' shows up after it has run thru the whole blood supply/vascular to get there, so it does show much more detail. plus its a better clearer type of 'picture' of your annie and the other arteries within your brain as well but deeper than your MRA. they take that one final dye shot right as that contrast it running thru your brain.

unfortunetly SB, you just DO really have also to think about here before making a truely 'informed' decision and the underlying 'whys' in possibly wanting to hold off on doing anything about this other than simply monitoring this too. you gotta ask yourself the reasons as in, am i just not wanting to HAVE TO deal with this so i will place it kind of at that one year mark or down the road, or do you really honestly 'feel' that monitoring really IS the very best possible decision for you? you just need to get the best possible info, including what that angio states along with considering the good the bad and the potential uglies here if you do nothing as well. that truely IS the very BEST advice i can give you having gone thru two insane vascular malformations inside some very highly scarey places. but i can tell you that having my coiling done really was the best possible thing i could have done for ME and my overall situation. its something i no longer have to really 'worry' about now that i know its coiled and totally no lighht up upon angio anymore. that is considered a success with coiling at about one year. total 'fill in' and no light up once contrast gets added where the annie was. but i would definitely wait about doing anything at all til you get that angio and then wait until you can really consider all options AFTER that gets done, and all potential complications and overall outcomes for each possible choice you just have the ability to make. it is something that also needs some going over and possibly can change the game here too. and you still CAN seek out that second opinion as well.

just know i am here if ya need me SB. i would NOT leave ya hangin here,K? good luck, marcia

I decided to go with the coiling procedure instead of the "watching and waiting" approach. I have the surgery scheduled for May 9. I'm hoping and praying everything will turn out fine.

The 5% he mentioned is the overall statistical complication rate for coiling procedures in general. That is anything from minor complications to major ones. Research has shown me that I appear to be in the right hands for my area. This neuro group does more coiling procedures than any other in my state.

honestly JB, i really DO feel you probably made the best possible decision. just the mere fact that this is in ones brain is what makes this whole thing so flippin scarey. but it DOES sound like you will be in some really great hands and THAT really IS what matters with these lil suckers and coiling. and yes, the wait can make you a bit crazy too unfortuently. but with spring here, there are alot of different things that you can do just to keep busy and not think about this as something that is 'looming'. that is what i did while i waited for mine.

are you planning on having the angio and then the very same day do the coiling, or wait til that INR can really go over that angio with you and your wife in a less "run thru' type way if they do this that way? while in the one sense you would have this all done in one day, certain things that simply can be seen upon angios sometimes really need to be better planned out if coiling is going to occur too,ya know what i mean? everything realistically DOES come down to what and how the annie gets seen upon angio.

but waiting and wondering/worrying about simply even having anything in ones brain that has the possibility to rupture(there just are a few different "types" of vascular malformations that a person can have in the brain or vascular. my other one i was born with ended up inside my spinal cord),that whole risk itself should completely be taken out of the picture for you. and then you just kind of wait for the 'confirming angio" as in how those coils actually filled in in about a year? if i remember how mine went, that will be what tells them for certain just what, if any real risks could just still be there(but once actually coiled by a good INR, most annies just DO fill in well). it kind of also depends upon how many coils they can simply 'pack into" your annie too. you just want this a full as possible. my smaller annie took two coils to fill, but they DID try another that ended up herniating back out, so they removed THAT and we went with the two, and it worked perfectly.

the bigger picture here SB is that every single type of 'procedure' that gets done in any hosp also just carries natural risks too, but that usually does not stop someone from having even major surgeries becasue of only "risks involved'. i personally was way more concerned about my annie rupturing and brain damage which is not usually really well recovered from than the coiling procedure of my annie, but that was based alot upon what i had also already been thru with my glob inside my spinal cord crap AND the annie of course. and that lovely 'fear of the unknown' factor that sucks no matter what. i just do think you are doing the best possible thing for you and your family too in the longer run. waiting with something like this will only create a much larger and more risky for rupture type of annie to have to deal with at some point if one waits too long with these things. you just do NOT want this to turn into what they refer to as a "giant aneurysm' at all. this also thins out the arterial walls in a much bigger way too. remember, we DO have three seperate types of 'back up or default walls" in our arteries, so i would think that this still could easily be within the more inner still yet(but every single annie just IS highly individual in make up within anyones artery), but that angio should let your INR just know in a much more exacting way, 'how your' annie just 'is" inside and out. hopefully you only have the real stretching within that very first inner layer. and that would be great, and add more protection for you from sudden rupture overall.

you never did mention about the neck of this thing as this being whats called a more "sacular' annie, like a deflated balloon, and how THAT kind of 'looks' in comparrison? the more neck you have on these things, the better those coils usually stay put too. even mine being in that critical bend of my artery, those two well packed coils never ever came out and entered the arterial stream of the actual bloodflow in that artery. i also had NO complications at all(before during and after) despite me seeming to attract complicated crap like all the flippin time.

as long as you truely feel that you just are in the very best hands possible, that alone helps to deal with this 'waiting'. but as i said, just do try and keep yourself busy here since overthinking anything can make ourselves crazy. been down THAT road way too may times myself, lol. it is rather interesting how the way we simply 'think' about something can either make us crazy or actually make something make more sense depending. it comes down more to just 'how we choose' to see things, then really just feel about them.

i do hope everything goes really really well for ya SB. let me know how things are going, or if you need me for anything too. hopefully if you DO need something, i can at least try and help you out here. i have always believed that when anything simpy gets found inside our bodies, esp in a more "incidental way"(just honestly have had this happen with so many'condtitions. my son too), that there IS a really good reason for it. and it usually is a huge help in finding most things earlier on than after something happens to us that MAKES it known in a much more profound way. ya just gotta try and think and stay positive here SB. marcia